I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender, or any of the names or characters of the show. I merely control them for my own twisted pleasure from this point in the story on.

Chapter 18: Where Loyalties Lie

Before his uncle could say anything, and Zuko was sure the old man did have something to say, the ship lurched underneath them. The motion caused everyone except Hanae to lose their balance, and Zuko spun himself so that when he and Katara hit the wall, he took the brunt of the impact.

Hanae sighed heavily, reaching up as if to push her glasses up her nose, only to stop mid-motion and sigh again. "Back in the cell," she turned to Iroh motioning with her thumb toward the open door.

"What why?" Katara asked, and looked around.

"Boat's moving." Hanae walked over to a small locker in the side of the brig opposite the cells that lined the other wall. She reached inside for something, "It's too late for you to get out now; we're on our away to the next port."

"Oh," Katara said and looked up at Zuko. "We could still try and-"

"Nope." The female solider took out a spare pair of glasses from the locker and tuned back to the others. "It would take you at least ten minutes to reach the deck," she examined the spectacles in her hand, "and then you'd have to swim."

Zuko knew his uncle would never make the trip back to shore, even if they managed to make it out on deck without being seen. He looked down at Katara who seemed to be considering their lack of options.

He looked up at his uncle and nodded to the older man, and he sighed before heading toward the cell. "Well, if this is the only way." He sighed dejectedly, and resumed his place on the floor with his empty tea cup. "It s a same; these floor are so hard."

Hanae pushed her glasses up her nose. "It was a royal pain getting you that tea, General." Zuko's uncle snorted very quietly at the inside joke and Zuko sighed in exasperation. "And I tried to get you cushions."

Iroh shrugged, and smiled over at the two teenagers. Katara's shoulders dropped slightly and she went to join the old man in his cell. All three were surprised when she was blocked by Hanae's arm.

"Mm-mm" the tall woman shook her head and motioned towards a small door on the other side of the room. "You two get your own."

Zuko made his way toward it, stopping in front of it and looking inside. This cell she pointed out wasn't a cage; it was an actual room with a door, but it was still a prison cell. Zuko tilted his head at it, looking at his uncle and then back at the door before turning to brigmistress.

"They made me put him in the cage." She said with a small shrug. "They said they wanted to keep an eye on him." Her tone was distasteful; she didn't sound happy about the whole situation.

"I'm fine," his uncle called from across the room, waving at Hanae. "I've got company… And tea! I'm perfectly fine."

Hanae glared at the old general. "You got lucky is what you got old man. Now hush, before you get us in trouble."

Zuko couldn't help but smile; the two seemed to be really good friends, and their level of familiarity made it seem like Hanea was family. He looked down at Katara when she took his hand in her own and pulled his towards the cell.

"Come on." She smiled at him, and he suppressed a gulp. "We don't want to get caught." The fact that her tone was completely innocent made it worse.

There'd always been room to run before, and to be locked in a small with Katara or however long it took them to get where they were going loomed heavily on his mind. Her hand on his shoulder caught his attention as the brig mistress leaned in closely to whisper in his ear.

"Not to worry, Your Highness. It won't take long." She shoved him gently into the cell and shut the door behind him. Horrified, Zuko turned around and rapped on fist on the door.

The cursed woman opened the small peekhole, and he could see the wicked look in her eyes. "Yes?" she asked courteously, and he could hear his uncle's laughter in the background.

"Such cruelty, Hanae," the old man called from his seat. "It is not at all ladylike."

She seemed to ignore him and focused her attention on Zuko. "Did you need something?"

Taking a deep breath, Zuko shook his head, and the peekhole slammed shut.

The Blue Spirit did nothing but pace for the entire trip. Katara had taken a seat on the hard bench and watched him the whole time. He seemed nervous, and she wondered if it was because of what they had to do later or what was going on now.

She had to admit being alone with him was awkward, especially in such close quarters. They'd been in here for a long time already. The ships constant movement told her they were still traveling, and him being nervous spread until she was wringing her hands.

"Are you okay?" Katara asked, hating the slight tremble in her voice. "You should really calm down." She should really take her own advice, she thought.

The masked man stopped mid step and turned toward her slowly. Katara gulped, hoping he wasn't claustrophobic or something else that would make him irritable. He looked at her for a full second before taking a step toward her and kneeling at her feet.

She looked down at him in surprise as he placed his hand over hers. She looked at them and realized she'd been wringing her hands so hard they'd turned red from the friction. She smiled shyly and pulled them away to place them behind her back.

He shook his head slowly, and before he could stand up she captured him in a hug. She took three deep breaths before he shifted and wrapped his arms around her middle, returning it. She sighed contently, resting her cheek on his head and taking in his scent.

When the door opened a few seconds later, both of them jumped and pulled away quickly, the Blue Spirit jumping to his feet and looking over at the open door. Iroh stood in the door frame with a giant grin on his face.

"We have arrived," the old general said and stepped back as the Blue Spirit rushed past him and into the brig. Katara blushed and followed closely behind.

Zuko hurried past his uncle, not really wanting to see the look on the old man's face. He almost ran into Hanae who stepped out from behind Iroh, and side stepped her before turning around to watch Katara exit the cell. Her face was as red as his felt. Hanae handed her a new bag, and Zuko remembered that they'd left theirs behind at the first port. He vaguely wondered that if they went back, whether it would be in the same tree he'd left it in.

Katara walked over to him and smiled slightly before moving to his side. They looked back at Hanae, and Katara rubbed her hand together.

"I have a question, why are you helping us? Aren't you loyal to the Fire Lord?"

"I am," she said assuredly. "But I am not loyal to Ozai."

When she said it, she looked sideways at his uncle, and Zuko finally understood why she was doing all of this for them. His uncle was the eldest son, and by all means should have been Fire Lord. Having been a teenager herself during his uncle's siege of the Earth Kingdom capital, this woman obviously still thought he deserved the title.

His uncle smiled warmly, and shook he head. "You shouldn't say that," he said softly. Zuko looked over at Katara and was relieved when the confusion was back in her eyes. As long as she couldn't put two and two together, they could still be together.

Hanae motioned to the doorway out and they trio followed closely behind.

"The good news is that I forgot that today was All Spirit Day: half the city is wearing a mask." She motioned toward Katara's new bag. "In there are two masks for you and the general. Put them on as soon as you reach the dock." She pushed up her glasses and pointed down that hallway. "At the end of this hallway are the cargo bay doors. Opening them will get everyone's attention on deck, so run for your lives when you reach the outside. The festival just started, so it should be going long enough for you to loose the guards that will be coming after you once I sound the alarm."

"Sound the alarm?" Katara sounded more than slightly worried.

"Or course, it is my duty after all."

"We will never be able to pay you back for what you've done," Zuko's uncle said and took her hand in his own smiling up at her warmly.

"Do what you can General Iroh." She shrugged and squeezing his hand back before releasing it. "I would prefer not to be a brigmistress forever."

Iroh laughed and nodded. "I'll see what I can do when the times comes."

Hanae nodded and turned away to go back into the brig. She closed the door behind her.

"Good luck kiddies," and then she was gone.

Iroh turned to face Zuko. "So, shall we go… Lee?" he said with a smile.

"Your name is Lee?" Katara asked suddenly, and Zuko turned to her. She really didn't know what was going on.

His uncle gave him a confused look, and Zuko held up a hand to keep him quiet. Understanding and sadness appeared in his uncle's eyes and he nodded in acknowledgement. Zuko turned to Katara and nodded his head up and down deliberately.

"Oh. Great, now I can call you something other than Blue." That got a laugh out of Iroh.

With his uncle leading the way, the trio made it to the bay doors with absolutely no encounters of the Fire Nation kind.

This is where my Author Notes go...Enjoy.

So… Can you guys tell that I didn't work today? LoL

This isn't the special Halloween chapter -that's coming later-this is the chapter that was supposed to be written yesterday, so there's still one more chapter coming your way before the night's over. The next one I post will be a very cute, VERY romantic, chapter. And mostly fluff…but yeah.

Also, this is kind of a dumb question, but I was wondering if you guys would like a sequel. I wanted to ask because since we don't know how the show turns out it would most definitely be post-war and probably somewhat OOC. So really, I'm asking if I wrote what I THINK is going to happen at the end of the show, would you read it?

I hope to get your answer soon, and I'll see you in a couple of hours –smile- you'll have my ALL SPIRITS DAY SPECIAL waiting for you when you get back from your trick-or-treating and parties and whatever else you may be doing tonight.

Because I sure as hell don't have any thing else I'd rather be doing.

You guys are great. Have fun!

Please dont't forget to review this chapter even thouhg there is another one comming out later. Please?